All I can say is wow! Online ad spending is only going to increase as more and more people come online. More competition you say? That just means more quality content will emerge out of the competition. Even supposing the competition gets so fierce for established sites, they’ll be able to dedicate some resources to invest in future growth.

Either way it’s amazing that something like blogging can provide a full-time income. The beauty is how it’s empowering bloggers in countries like India where their command of English and technological proficiency is creating great opportunities for young bloggers.

I’m not even going to say anything that makes you think I smoke crack but their success sure is inspiring. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Baron, Thanks for the highlight here. Its more like a growing spirit rather than a sense of competition. I compare myself with other probloggers and I see the things which I missed and I need to improve.

I can imagine. The internet is a big enough pie for everyone to get a piece unless your one of those portal sites. Reading your achievement is more inspiring than anything because I can see the consistent hard work you put into your site (I’ve been a reader).

My reasons are the same as Thilak’s. Even in my day job I’ve always believed in transparency as it helps everyone improve their lot. I just hope that other bloggers follow our suit and share their earnings so that we can all work out what are the best ways to do better.

Kind of makes you want to push some ads up on your blog to see what kind of cash you can make. Personally, I don’t think now is the time for my blog to have ads. Maybe later down the line I will add in some Google Adsense and TextAdLinks, but for right now I think I’m a little more interested in growing a reader base and getting some good discussion/feedback from those readers.

Do you think you’ll be adding in some sort of revenue generator anytime soon Baron?

Everton,
Sorry if I made it sound like a competition. Didn’t mean to come across like that if I did. You’re doing amazing work and yes I agree that fellow bloggers are the nicest when it comes to helping each other out. Thanks for your comments.

Jeremiah,
That is a tricky subject. I’ve added a couple TextLinkAd banners so I think I’m maxed out as is. I wouldn’t mind tweaking it to make ads less obnoxious but it’s too much hassle. If traffic ever gets to the point where I can think seriously about it I’ll probably go for a redesign.

Design can impact both revenue and readership so it’s a difficult choice. I think your decision to hold off monetization is a wise one but if you grow a large readership and suddenly start serving ads, it might cause a backlash so a gradual transition would probably be best.

I’m kind of experimenting now while the readership is small so I wont have to worry about it later.